Product Reviews

This party game has always been a favorite of ours, whether in the original or 'Sports' edition. A simple concept of hearing an event and sliding it into your time-line (made up of prior cards you've correctly placed) can make for lots of tough 'I know that' situations. The only problem with the original game was that when a player guessed incorrectly, the next player 'round the table had the opportunity (and a lot more information) to steal your card. Thus, once you got behind, you couldn't recoup and win the game (as almost always, someone completed the task of gathering a 10-card time-line without missing any).

Well, now, with Best of Chronology, they've fixed the problem. The new edition comes with four decks of cards in different topic areas (e.g. Entertainment, Inventions, Sports). On a player's turn, he rolls the die to determine which stack will be used. Should he roll a black die-face, he chooses his favorite; but should he roll a white face, the reader chooses for him.

From there, it's the familiar concept of determining where in the player's time-line the new event fits. The difference is that, after correctly answering, the player has the option to continue with another die-roll and another card. This can go on as long as the player dares. However, should he miss, all cards gained this turn are lost.

So, now a good game has gotten a great deal better.

This is a game you should always have on hand for casual get-togethers.

Chronology is an excellent game for all ages. There are over 400 cards in the set, each with an event printed on it and the year in which that event took place printed in the corner. Each person gets one card at the beginning of the game. As a player draws a card, he reads the event to the person on his left. That person then decides whether or not the card that was read to him happens before or after the card he has in front of him. As the play progresses and each player amasses cards, the choices become more difficult; where does the new event get placed? The first person to get ten cards wins.

The game is great for family play, although some of the events are rather obscure. I mean, who really knows when the 24th amendment was ratified? But the system is better than Trivial Pursuit. Here, even if you know most of the answers, it doesn't matter. What matters is what order they go in.

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